Chemistry - Year 9 and 10

So last year I had a terrible (and by that I mean the worst) Science teacher who couldn't teach properly and was hard to understand. Because of that, our class didn't understand much for the Chemistry content and we barely had notes on it. Now that our school has started Chemistry this year, I'm struggling a bit with the stuff we're learning right now since I barely know the basics. I consulted with my teacher about this and was told to go over last year's content (2 chapters) and then start on this year's content in the "Science Focus" textbooks.

What I'm trying to know is that in Year 11 Chemistry, will they go over the basic Year 9 and 10 content early in the year or will we start with the Prelim stuff straight off?

Re: Chemistry - Year 9 and 10

To check what you will learn in preliminary (year 11) chemistry, just look up the BOSTES/NESA syllabus for chemistry. It'll show in detail what you will be studying. I'm aware the syllabus is changing slightly soon (if it hasn't already) but for the most part, I've heard the content will be extremely similar. So, from the chemistry that I did 1-2 years ago, the early concepts of yr 11 chem is a review of science in earlier years. The atom concept is reviewed, molecules, elements, etc, the mole concept is introduced on top of this, types of reactions, etc. So what prelim does, is it goes over the previous work and might add on more info in some areas.

Re: Chemistry - Year 9 and 10

Originally Posted by polskicygan

To check what you will learn in preliminary (year 11) chemistry, just look up the BOSTES/NESA syllabus for chemistry. It'll show in detail what you will be studying. I'm aware the syllabus is changing slightly soon (if it hasn't already) but for the most part, I've heard the content will be extremely similar. So, from the chemistry that I did 1-2 years ago, the early concepts of yr 11 chem is a review of science in earlier years. The atom concept is reviewed, molecules, elements, etc, the mole concept is introduced on top of this, types of reactions, etc. So what prelim does, is it goes over the previous work and might add on more info in some areas.

Oh so even if my Chemistry is weak by the end of this Year, I can still make it more stable next Year since we will be going over the Year 9-10 content again?

Re: Chemistry - Year 9 and 10

Yes, because:

1) You will go over any basics you need to know again, and
2) You are only ever assessed (in prelim and in HSC) on what you learn in that time. So what you learn in prelim is what you'll be assessed on.

Re: Chemistry - Year 9 and 10

Originally Posted by _Anonymous

Yet my teacher said they wont reteach junior Chem in Year 11 but rather start off with the Prelim stuff instead.

That is true, but the first prelim topics don't require extensive knowledge of junior chem. For example, in year 10, I averaged about 30-40% in the chemistry section of my assessment tasks (I knew almost nothing about chemistry, tbh idk what I was doing with my life), but in year 11 i decided to study very hard and managed to achieve 80s/90s. Anything is possible

Re: Chemistry - Year 9 and 10

Usually they go through the basics anyways and even if he doesn't, there should be notes to help out.
Imo, if I don't understand a topic, I usually watch youtube videos which are actually really helpful - so there's always that.

Overall, there aren't too many overlapping concepts and sometimes it's quite content based so as long as you understand concepts - how and why, then you'll be okay

Youtube videos are the best go-to if you're stuck on anything but goodluck anyways!